A customer in the store last weekend asked me if Apple had updated the AirPort Express yet. He said that he wanted another one but wasn't willing to buy it until they added 802.11ac to it. It's been almost a year and a half since Apple released the AirPort Extreme with 802.11ac networking, after all. There are some things to consider, however. Read on for details.

Our colleague Haroon Q Raja recently elected not to include any of Apple's devices in his roundup of the top five best Wi-Fi routers for your connected home. His rationale was that there are "faster, more feature-rich, customizable, powerful and cheaper options." He's right about that. But he's also wrong to exclude them from consideration. Let me explain.

You have an Mac, iPhone, or iPad, and now it's time to Apple-fy (applify?) your network. Apple offers three devices suitable for home network routing: The AirPort Extreme, the Time Capsule, and the AirPort Express. Which one is best suited to your needs, and why? Let's take a look.

As we head towards WWDC 2014 we thought it would be fun to look back at Apple World Wide Developer Conferences past, what they introduced, and what impact they made. Today let's take a look at WWDC 2013, where Apple introduced iOS 7, OS X Mavericks, new MacBook Airs, new Time Machines and the stunning new Mac Pro...

If you're rocking one of Apple's newer routers, aka an AirPort with 802.11ac, head on into the settings and update that sucker. There's a security update that addresses SSL/TLS. Here's the deal with firmware version 7.7.3:

There are lots of reasons why internet connections can drop randomly or significantly slow down. One of the most common reasons however is interference from something else. Perhaps a neighbor has a router or another device close by that's confusing your AirPort Extreme or AirPort Express. Changing the channel can often fix these issues. Here's how:

Extruded. That's the word Apple's SVP of Marketing, Phil Schiller, used to describe the new 802.11ac Airport Extreme and Time Capsule at WWDC 2013. Tall also came to mind immediately. Its footprint is smaller now, like the redesigned Airport Express, but for an internet router and base station, its height is significantly exaggerated. 3.85-inches square, it juts 6.6 inches up now. So, is it both less and more...?